


The Countless Stars We’re Sleeping Under

by MinervaNorth



Series: Something of Home [19]
Category: Chicago PD (TV)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Honeymoon, Snow, Wedding, the ending they deserve
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-10
Updated: 2020-03-19
Packaged: 2021-03-12 22:42:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 4,815
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23096347
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MinervaNorth/pseuds/MinervaNorth
Summary: Greg “Mouse” Gerwitz and his new wife, Kate Gerwitz, go on their honeymoon to Big Sky, Montana. A series of vignettes for the kids who finally made it.Title is from “Joy” by Sleeping at Last.
Relationships: Greg "Mouse" Gerwitz & Original Female Character(s)
Series: Something of Home [19]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1640515
Comments: 6
Kudos: 6





	1. I guess space and time takes violent things, angry things, and makes them kind

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mouse and Kate make it to the cabin in Montana and experience something they never thought they would ever get to see in their lifetimes.

**** October 13, 2019  
** 2316 Hours  
** **** Big Sky, Montana

** **

I lean back against the window of the rental car. I’m glad he knows where he’s going, because I sure as hell haven’t looked at the GPS since I got in.

With all the snow they just got, I’m not sure how hard it is for him to navigate in the SUV, but he’s doing just fine.

I’m starting to fall asleep again. It might be the calming music Mouse has put on the radio. It’s not helping me, but it does help the scenery: everything it dusted is white. The full moon makes it almost feel like it’s overcast.

But there’s nothing. It’s quiet. It’s peaceful. It’s calm.

And then I see it. The most perfectly sized cabin. It takes my breath away, and as we step out, I look over the entire property. I can’t see any other cabin from here. Just a cabin in some snowy woods somewhere no one can find us.

Someplace quiet.

I start up the stairs to the porch, but Mouse circumvents me, unlocking the cabin with the key in his hand. Pushing the door open with his shoulder, he pauses.

“What?” I whisper. I don’t want to disturb the peace. Still, I let out a bit of a squeal when he picks me up in a bridal carry and over the threshold.

“You damn sap,” I say, giggling as we get inside. The cabin is… it’s perfect. It’s just big enough for the two of us. It’s beautiful.

Mouse sets me back down on my feet, and he runs out to the car to get our bags. I head out the back door. When I step outside, I crunch on snow.

And the breath leaves my lungs. In the good way, mind.

I see wilderness. I see mountain peaks.

And I see stars. I see stars for miles, up and out and past our atmosphere.

It’s freezing, but I don’t care. I should be used to the cold. And as my breath comes out in puffs, I hear the door once more.

And Mouse just… exhales, and then places a blanket around my shoulders.

“Thanks,” I whisper. He just wraps his arms around my waist, hugging me from behind.

“I’ve never heard it so… quiet,” he murmurs. Like me, he doesn’t seem to want to break the silence. Even the snow makes everything seem muffled. The trees don’t move, the evergreens covered in white. I look off to the north, the mountain peaks piercing the sky. But as our eyes adjust, I see the colors: the deep cerulean blue cascading around the rocks. Meeting the line in the middle. It looks… like clouds cutting across the sky, darker and lighter blue, shades of purple and white and green. I suddenly realize what it is.

“It’s the Milky Way,” I whisper. “Mouse, that’s the Milky Way.”

“That… that’s too damn existential for a time like this,” he mutters in my ear. And I laugh. I laugh leaning into him, watching the green mottle with blue.

And then he gasps again.

“Holy… Kate, look.”

And across the mountain tops, we see it. The shifting, barely visible, lines of green. They wave in the night sky. A hint of purple slips in, and I… I can’t breathe.

“The aurora borealis,” I say. “Northern lights.”

“Never thought…” his voice cracks. “Never thought I would ever see this.”

“And with your wife,” I say, waving my left hand in his face.

But he doesn’t laugh. He just pulls my chin over my shoulder and he kisses me. He kisses me deep. I almost feel him sigh.

And we’re quiet. We’re quiet for a long time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Title is from “Sun” by Sleeping at Last.


	2. The past will be the past, but the future is brighter than any flashback

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kate and Mouse go to war, but not in the way they're used to.

**October 14, 2019  
****1523 Hours**  
Big Sky, Montana

I climb up onto the ledge of the porch, carefully balancing on the top rail, while Mouse calls out from the other side of the yard.

“Hey! No! Be careful!”

“What do you think I’m gonna do?!” I call out, trying to walk it like a tight rope. And just like that, I launch myself into the snowbank, trying to do a pirouette before I make contact.

And the snow is so heavy, but I sink into it almost to my chest. The pressure actually feels good. I lean back, and I see the overwhelming light of the bluest sky I’ve ever seen.

And then the rays of sun are blocked, and Mouse looks down on me from above.

“The hell are you doing?”

“Didn’t you like my swan dive?”

“It was beautiful, but I’m not sure what you’re trying to achieve. I thought you were going to use that as your fort.”

“I don’t need a fort,” I say. “I have yours.”

“Who said you could use mine?” He scoffs. “I have meticulously built mine—”

I look up, and I see what looks like some sort of redoubt with room enough for one on the other side of the yard.

“I could destroy that entire thing in one go,” I say, looking at the tree he had built it almost around. A well-placed snowball to the snow laden branch would make a huge pile drop down onto the fort, possibly destroying it under its weight.

“But you wouldn’t,” he says out of the side of his mouth.

I squint at him. And I realize I can’t see his hands. And then I can’t see anything, because I’m coughing up snow.

“You bastard! That's against the rules of war!"

"There are no rules in war, you know that!" He’s gone by the time I pop up out of my hole. Actually, I don’t see him anywhere. Where the hell—

I’m pummeled in the face by a snowball.

“Direct hit!” I hear him yell. I try to find him, but the Doppler effect makes it nearly impossible. I try to find his loc, but then I see him try to run from one snowbank to another. I retaliate with my own shot, and it barely hits his back as he somersaults into his fort.

“This is unfair!” I cry. “You had a sneak attack! You had an attack of opportunity—oof!”

Another snowball to the face.

“Dammit, Mouse!”

“All’s fair!” He calls, and pops up again.

This time my projectile smashes into his face. I duck down and start making an arsenal. I make as many snowballs as I can carry.

And once I take a few breaths, I start my frontal assault. I run for his damn redoubt, pummeling him with as many as I can, and even if they don’t hit, he’s pinned down. Once I run out, I make a kamikaze attack on his redoubt.

I smash into it, destroying part of the front wall, as he rolls to get out of my way.

“Shit, Kate!”

I slide to a stop, and I’m just laughing. I can’t stop laughing as some of the snow shakes off of the pine tree nearby, from the sheer earthquake I had caused.

When I finally regain any sense of decorum, I look up once more. He’s got that damn Army green beanie on, and that sideways smile I’m so familiar with.

I pull him down to me, gloved hands on coat collars, and kiss him. He braces himself on both sides of my shoulders, pressing his weight against the inches of snow, before he finally just quits and straddles me. When we finally break the kiss, I can see our breath, forming one tiny cloud.

“We should probably head inside,” I breathlessly suggest.

“What, you don’t want to—”

“Too cold,” I say. “Nope. This could take a while, Specialist.”

"Whatever you say, Captain."

He jumps up and I chase him back to the cabin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Title is from “January White” by Sleeping at Last.


	3. After a while, I thought I’d never find you. I convinced myself that I would never find you, when suddenly I saw you

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kate and Mouse share a tender moment in their cabin in Big Sky as they look to the future.

**October 15, 2019**

**2012 Hours**

**Big Sky, Montana**

I sink into the warm water, the jets of this damn hot tub forcing the stress knots from my shoulders.

“I’m glad we avoided that escape room,” Mouse mutters, and I snuggle into him. “I don’t think I could’ve handled that.”

“We would have either been out in five seconds, or we would still be screaming inside, surrounded by the bodies of those we took down with us in our panic.”

“That’s definitely not funny,” Mouse says, chuckling still. He looks up, the night sky almost glowing in the Montana fall. “You ever wonder—”

“Probably,” I say quietly.

“I mean, I know… I know we’ve talked about this. I just…”

I see what he’s looking at. The ring on his left hand.

“We’ve been on quite the roller coaster, haven’t we?” I say. His other hand rests lazily on my shoulder, and I long for the touch. I know I can have it whenever I need it, but something about this conversation makes me touchstarved.

“You said… you said at the wedding—”

“Our wedding,” I correct. I still don’t think he believes it happened.

“Our wedding. You said at our wedding that all you could think about was us. About me.”

“That is correct,” I sigh. “It was like… every defining moment we ever had just… came into my train of thought. The moment we met. The… the homeless camp. The 31st Street Beach. Skating at Millennium Park. Your endearing smile,” I finish, a smile crossing my own face.

“I think I get what you’re saying,” he says. “I… I had something similar.”

“What do you mean?”

“I didn’t see the past. I saw… everything we had to look forward to. This. Of course. But… but something has big as buying a house, or… or kids…” He scoffs. “It just seemed so daunting to me before. I never ever thought I would ever be allowed this life. And here we are.”

I look up. The stars sparkle against the midnight blue.

“You want kids,” I say quietly.

“I would. If… I mean… if it’s in the cards for us.”

“How many do you want?” I ask, knowing we’ve talked about this before, but I want to hear it again.

“Two or three.”

“We’re gonna have to get started soon then,” I say sternly. “I don’t want to be forty and pregnant.”

He just… he starts to laugh. It echoes through the Montana night.

“Oh, well, we can definitely get started. I mean… if you’re ready.”

“Mouse, I’ve been ready. I’ve been ready since the moment I knew I was in love with you.”

He moves my chin so he’s looking at me, and he kisses me once, softly.

“We’re gonna have to name one of them after Jay, and you know it.”

“Which means we’ve gotta name one after Will, too,” I say, giggling. “Lord. Two or three? We better get busy.”

I make a move to get out of the hot tub, but he pulls me back down.

“We have plenty of time,” he says, uncharacteristically quiet. “We’ve got all the time in the world, okay? Let’s just… let’s just relax for a minute.”

“Just a minute?”

“Or two,” He sighs. He looks up again, and I watch him trace some of the constellations with his eyes.

“What are you thinking about?”

“You got me on the wedding.”

“I mean, it was only a few days ago.”

“I don’t want to forget any of it.”

“Me neither. And we won’t,” I say, resting my head back on his chest.

“I scoured everything for the right handfasting ceremony words,” he admits. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you, but I wanted to surprise you.”

I chuckle. The knot sits on top of our fireplace mantle now.

“Father Mullen suggested it, actually. He said he used that before, at a couple of other weddings you had been a part of. A long time ago.”

“It was my favorite,” I admit. “I always loved it.”

He takes a deep breath. “I almost liked those better than the real vows.”

I laugh. “They have a certain… simplicity to them.”

And as try to pick out the constellations I know, his voice comes low, comes quiet, comes at a whisper.

“You are the star of each night. You are the brightness of every morning. You are the story of each guest. You are the report of every land. No evil shall befall you, on hill nor bank, in field or valley, on mountain or in glen. Neither above, nor below, neither in sea, nor on shore, in skies above nor in the depths. You are the kernel of my heart, you are the face of my sun, you are the harp of my music, you are the crown of my company.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Title is from "Venus" by Sleeping at Last.


	4. The world is brighter than the sun now that you’re here

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kate can't be mad, even when her ADHD husband almost tanks it off the ski lift, then manages to embarrass both of them in front of the ski instructor.

**October 16, 2019**

**0943 Hours**

**Big Sky Resort, Big Sky, Montana**

“I hate this. I hate the way this feels.”

“Just sit back and you’ll be fine.”

“I have sticks attached to my feet.”

“That’s kind of the point.”

The ski lift starts shifting higher and higher as he looks around.

“Mouse, chill.”

“In the words of Crockett Marcel, I have no chill. This place is amazing, you know that?”

I look around the mountain. The snowfall they had gotten last week just makes it a paradise. And while I’m looking around, I nearly have to hold on.

“Mouse, you’re fucking wiggly. Stop it.”

I just want to look around, but my dumbass husband just creates a wave of panic throughout my heart. He fiddles with his skiing poles. “I’m always wiggly. You know that.”

“Dude, we’re on a ski lift, can you please stop—”

And with that, the weight shifts, and Mouse nearly slides off the seat. I dart my arm out, grasping the other arm rest, creating my own sort of seatbelt so my dear, dear husband can adjust.

“Fuck,” he says emphatically. “Fuck me, Kate, good lord, you are right, these things are touchy. Did you just soccer mom me?”

I can’t answer. My heart is just racing. I don’t move my arm until we get to the top of the mountain, and even then, I’m wary.

“Kate. Kate, Kate. Kate. I’m fine.”

“I was almost a widow four days after I was a bride, Mouse! Stop your damn wiggling on things you shouldn’t wiggle on!”

He looks at me, he gives me a long look, and then immediately bursts into laughter.

“This is not funny!” I say, wielding my rental pole like a lightsaber. “Why are you laughing so hard?”

He uses his poles to balance in the snow. “Of all the things… of all the…” He wheezes, and it takes him a while before he can breathe. “Of all the situations, you think the Lord’s gonna take me on a ski lift?”

I smack him with the pole. He winces, but he chuckles.

“I’m practically invincible at this point!”

“I had to save you from the fuckin’ ski lift!” I hiss. “That does not make you invincible!”

He tries to move, but he can’t. Not yet. Instead, he beckons me closer. “Thank you, my dearest one, for saving me from falling off the ski lift on our honeymoon.”

He tries to give me a kiss, but I smack him instead. And when we head to our lesson—or, in better terms, our teacher came to us, since Mouse couldn’t move worth shit—he starts trying to learn how to move. It does not go well. While he knows how to stop, the moment he starts to move he…

He’s on his ass. Ten minutes in, this nearly thirty-four-year-old man drops to his ass, skis out in front of him.

And he’s just laughing. He’s losing his goddamn mind. The teacher doesn’t look quite as amused, but Mouse is wheezing again. And I just look over him, in his winter gear, his skis in the air, letting out a belly laugh of belly laughs. His beanie has fallen off, and his dark hair is dusted with snow. As he clutches his stomach, I feel any anger or worry or anxiety fall away. Even the sun seems brighter.

“You’re an asshole,” I say. It just makes him laugh harder. “I’m gonna kick your ass later.”

“They got a rink here?” He finally says through his laughing. I help pick him up, apologizing with my expression at the teacher.

“I think so—”

“You. Me. Rink. I’m gonna kick _your_ ass later,” he says.

I push him over back into the snow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Title is from “Light” by Sleeping at Last.


	5. How rare and beautiful it is to even exist

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kate and Mouse own the open hockey game in Big Sky, but make a yet another realization in the middle of an empty ice rink.

**October 17, 2019**

**2232 Hours**

**Big Sky Town Center Rink, Big Sky, Montana**

I weave back towards the other goal, and I hear Mouse’s cackling laugh as I do.

“C’mon!” The goalie says, and I slap shot it between his knees. I get another point. I’ve lost count, and I think the rest of the people at this drop-in hockey game are either pissed or impressed.

“I’m bored!” yells Mouse from the crease, as he skates in figure eights. There’s a whistle from the guy who was leading the game, and he gives me a hand motion—game over for the night.

When the others start to walk off, he heads up to me.

“Hey! Your goalie called you Tilly right?”

I lean on the stick. “That’s what they call me on the ice, at least.”

“Are you in the NWHL or something?”

I chuckle, and Mouse just rolls his eyes, skating to the edge of the rink to pass off his stick to the poor locals.

“Nah, but I’m in an amateur league with… with my husband at home.”

He nods, raising his eyebrows. “Just makin’ sure that skill didn’t go to waste.” He starts skating backwards. “Thanks for comin’ out! Good to have someone who knows what she’s doing.”

“Hey, you mind if we stick around on the rink for a little while?” I call, and he waves me off.

“Lights go off at midnight!”

And with that, we’re alone, but there’s enough light to give us enough room to breathe. I do a small circle, regaining my bearings, and make a lap of the rink. At the other end of the rink, I start gaining speed. I wonder if I still have it in me. I think I can do it. 

I know I can do it.

“Kate. Kate, what are you doing—“

I slip into the backwards position, watch where I’m going, slam my toe pick into the ice and spin in the air. I make it the standard two and a half rotations before I land, sliding my leg out for balance. 

Mouse starts golf clapping at the other side of the rink.

“And Gerwitz completes a nearly perfect double Axel,” he says affecting a British accent. It comes out more Brooklyn than I think he wanted. “But can she achieve the coveted double axel, double toe combination?”

I giggle, and I start to gain speed again. Closer to the center of the rink, I get into position and see if I can do it one more time—a double axel, double toe combination.

The air whips through my hair, and although I land hard, I still land. I wonder if I can do it. I know Mouse is watching, so I have to. I have to. I start speeding up again, and get into the backward entry. I launch off the inside edge and channel the energy I had from not kicking the asses of strangers in a public game. Maybe I can get four. Maybe—

I land, and Mouse starts seal clapping. “Dude! Dude, how in the hell!”

“Did I make it? Did I make four?!” I say, out of breath.

“I mean, I think you did?” He says, grinning. “What was that, a… the S one…”

“Salchow,” I say, looking up to the sky. That’s what this has been all about, right? The sky. The big sky, apparently. I can’t see the stars tonight, though, and that’s fine. That’s fine.

In the silence, the quiet silence brought on by the heavy, heavy snow on the ground around us, I start skating around the rink once more, picking up enough speed to do a tight scratch spin. I just close my eyes, knowing if I try to spot, I’ll just make myself dizzier.

The turn feels like it lasts forever. I don’t know how much speed I had going into it, but only when I start to slow down, do I open my eyes.

I look up. A gentle snow, a soft snow, had started to fall. I hold out my hands, catching some of the flakes on my gloves. I can’t help but laugh. Snow. Snow, after all this time. I don’t mean to get existential, but God. What did I do to deserve this? I just spin in place, slowly, until I face Mouse.

And in the snow, he stands, hands in his pockets, just watching me. I can’t even read his expression at first. He just sighs.

With precision, with a skill I remember teaching him, he closes the distance between us, slips his gloved hand around my cheek, and pulls me in for a kiss.

I close my eyes, grasping his hand in mine, and when he breaks the kiss, he rests his forehead on mine. Neither of us breathe for a moment. All I can hear is the blowing wind, and I can feel the pinpricks of snow on my exposed skin.

I know what his expression was. In the quiet night wind, in the snow, I think I recognize it.

Peace.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Title is from “Saturn” by Sleeping at Last.


	6. Now we’re young enough to try to build a better life

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kate and Greg's dinner conversation gets a little deep as they talk about their past and their future.

**October 18, 2019**

**1920 Hours**

**Peaks Restaurant, Big Sky, Montana**

The question hangs in the air as soon as he asks it. It’s not a dumb question. It’s not like it hasn’t been on our minds this whole time. It’s really just the type of people we are. But still, it shocks me. I’m not ready for it.

“What’s next?”

I breathe out, take a drink a long drink of my beer.

“You don’t have to stall, you know,” he says. “It’s me.”

“I know. I don’t know what the hell I’m thinking. I’ve never…” I sigh. “I don’t know how to plan, you know?”

“We were never ones to plan,” he admits. I look him over. I try to think about how much we’ve changed. We both have more scars now. Him especially. From the first convoy. From his surgeries, the second convoy. With his sleeves pushed up, I can see the burns. They’re healed over now. So are the ones on his wrist, under his watch band.

It’s not just the physical scars, though. It’s the ones we can’t see.

“It’s the names that get me. You know, for the longest time, I was Specialist Gerwitz. It’s… it’s weird, adjusting to Professor Gerwitz.”

“I can relate,” I say. “Captain Cavanagh. KC. Kate. Professor. Cap. Now…” I chuckle. “I could get used to Mrs. Gerwitz.”

“Makes you sound like an old cat lady,” he says, winking at me over his beer bottle.

“Now you’re just being rude, Gerwitz. C’mon. Little Polish kid.”

“Polish and German, thank you,” he says gesturing with his beer bottle.

“With a name like Gerwitz—”

“Shut up, Cavanagh—” He starts, and then draws a sharp breath. “Oh no.”

“You can’t use that against me anymore,” I chuckle, waving my left hand in front of my own face.

“I’m fine with it,” he says. He just… he sighs. He gazes at me.

“Stop looking at me like that,” I whisper.

“What was your life plan?” He says quietly. “What were you going to do with your life?”

I blink at first. I don’t know how to answer. Shaking my head, I look down to my hands. The rings.

“I don’t know,” I admit. “I just knew what I liked, and I studied it. Maybe become a professor. But I just got so worked up after 9/11, and the roles for women were opening up, that I thought I could really do something good over there.”

“That’s the Kate I know,” he whispers.

“And then with my parents racing to get remarried, and them moving out of Chicago so… so abruptly, I don’t know. I think part of it was Jay. Jay and I always were close. Not that Will and I weren’t, mind. Will and I had a different relationship than Jay and I. And when Jay joined up… my baby brother, essentially… I couldn’t be outdone.”

He chuckles once. “Did you know I went to college for a semester?”

“What? No!”

“UIC,” he says, nodding. “I could _not_ do it. The sitting, and the homework, and the grades… I joined up right after.”

“Uh, when… when were you there?”

He starts doing the math. “Fall, 2004, I think?” His smile fades when I start to feel myself go pale. “What?”

“I started in Fall of 2004.”

“Shit. Shit, what classes were you in?” He asks, leaning forward, all talk of our futures put on hold.

“You expect me to remember?! That was fifteen years ago!”

“Fair. Okay, fair,” he deflates. “I do remember taking Calculus with—”

“—the ties!” I gasp. “The ties! They were Godawful ties—”

“No way. No. You were in that class?”

“I definitely had Calculus with him, but I don’t know when I did,” I admit.

“We could’ve been in the same damn Calculus class,” he says, leaning back into his chair. He chuckles once, looking out the window of the restaurant.

“What did your grandmother say when you decided to join up?” I ask quietly.

“She supported me,” he shrugs, still looking out the window. “I think she knew that was the best choice for me. She always knew what the best choice was for me.”

“What do you mean?”

He leans forward, taking my hand in his. He runs his thumb over my engagement ring.

“Oh,” I murmur. “_Oh._”

He nods, smiling. “She’s always known what the best choice was for me.”

“Are you flirting with me, Mouse?”

He flips through a handful of emotions in just a few seconds: first, recognition, then humor, then he shakes his head with a smile.

“Yes. Always. Just assume I’m always flirting with you. I ain’t ever gonna stop, so you might as well get used to it.”

“I will never get used to it,” I admit. “We’re gonna be the gross couple that’s eighty and still doing PDA in the park.”

“We’re gonna gross out our kids someday. Probably traumatize them.”

“Good. That’s the good kind of traumatization,” I say. “Not… not the bad.”

“Two or three kids, huh? That’s the plan?”

“I mean, house. Doctorate. Kids,” I breathe. “I’m in it to win it, Gerwitz.”

“So that’s the plan,” he murmurs, still holding my hand. “House. Doctorate. Kids. You… you good with that?” He says, almost unsure. That switch, from the bravado to the uncertainty so quickly, reminds me of when we met.

“At the risk of sounding extremely cliched, as long as I’m with you, I’m happy.”

He makes a gagging noise, then leans in and kisses me.

Yeah. Yeah, he’s going to be the father of my children.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Title is from "Mars" by Sleeping at Last.


	7. We will call this place our home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Greg and Kate Gerwitz make it back to Chicago after their honeymoon.

**October 19, 2019  
2232 Hours  
** **1111 W 14th Place #122, Little Italy, Chicago**

“I still don’t understand the draw of that crater.”

“It was Old Faithful, Mouse. It was literally a national landmark.”

“I know, I know. Maybe I’m just glad to be home around Navy Pier and that dumb Bean.”

“It is a dumb Bean,” I say, pulling his hat over his eyes. “You’re a dumb bean.”

“I am, indeed, a dumb bean,” he confirms, leaning against the wall next to our apartment door. I can’t say I’m not happy to be home. It’s been an interesting year. I started this year with… with the status quo.

I unlock the door, and nearly kick it open, letting out a sigh, and then a gasp, a squeal, as Mouse picks me up and carries me into the apartment, leaving our bags in the hallway.

“Mouse, c’mon, you sap. Really?”

“Gotta do it. Gotta.”

“You’re the worst.”

And in retaliation, he dumps me onto the couch. I squeal, bouncing a little, and watch as he goes into the hallway and brings our bags back in, dumping them right near the door before locking up.

He doesn’t turn any lights on. The ambient light from the city center comes in from the east. I get up, I look out across the skyline.

He just wraps his arms around my waist, hugging me from behind.

“I’ve never heard it so… quiet,” he murmurs. 

I know what he’s talking about. The noise. He’s right. The noise had finally started to fade. After so many years, after so much, I can barely hear it anymore.

“Are you ready?” He whispers in my ear.

“For what?” I ask, looking over my shoulder at him. He gives me that side smirk. It makes my heart flutter. I’m going to be eighty and he’s going to be setting my heart aflutter.

He chuckles.

“The rest.”

I like that. I could get used to that. _Rest. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Title is from "North" by Sleeping at Last.


End file.
